An Illusion Of Love
by SoccerLily
Summary: Cho and Harry had a mutual attraction during their fifth year, but now it is Harry’s sixth year at Hogwarts and he no longer feels the same. Harry has a new girlfriend and Cho is envious. Now, she will stop at nothing to split them apart, even murder.
1. Shady Truths and Secrets

Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me! All of these characters belong to the brilliant J.K. Rowling. My story is only based on her novel. The only thing that belongs to me is the idea of this story.

An Illusion of Love  By: SoccerLily 

Chapter 1: Shady Truths and Secrets

I look out my dust-covered window with glazed eyes and stare down at the steaming chimneys below. The unique snowflakes sprinkle down covering the warm, cozy houses with yet another covering of white icing. Fresh tears start to stream freely down flushed cheeks as I remember that no gifts will be coming this Christmas. I look back at my ragged bed and shabby surroundings and once again wince at the sight of myself in the mirror. I hate the six-year-old oriental complexion shimmering back at me through the many cracks and missing pieces of the fogged mirror.

"Mr. Snuggles, I was a bad girl… a bad, bad girl… Grams said so and Grams is always right. She says I shouldn't have done what I did… I told her I had to because Mommy and Daddy were not very nice… She said it didn't matter and I shouldn't have done what I did and that this had to stay between her and I. So, Mr. Snuggles you have to keep this a secret." With that the small girl places a knobby finger to her lips and made a soft "shhh…" sound.

** 10 years later **

"Mr. Snuggles do you think what I did was wrong?" Cho Chang places one hand behind the tattered old, elephant stuffed animal and pretends the animal is responding. She places one hand to her neck and clears her throat getting ready to imitate what she imagined him saying. With a clearly deeper voice she begins her masquerade.

"They deserved it… they were very mean and never gave you what you wanted… Grams is just too good to appreciate your actions."

"Don't talk about Grams that way! Look at what she has done for all of us. If it weren't for her we wouldn't have had anywhere to go. She didn't leave us as stranded little orphans out in the cold streets, she helped us, and she took us in not caring what we had done. You should be grateful… more than grateful…in debt."

Cho places her stuffed animal back on her pink comforter and swiftly lifts her mattress up. There in between broken metal springs she pulls out a small shoebox. She raises the lid to pull out a modest green diary hinged together by a few loose ribbons. She places the box back in a hidden corner and re-adjusts her mattress before lofting herself onto it. She opens a nearby drawer and pulls out a quill and ink.

"The things you find in hidden passages at Hogwarts. You would think Tom Riddle would have chosen a more suitable place to hide a volume of his diary."

Cho shrugs and turns to look at the diary embroidered in light green snakes. In the middle stamped in humble letters spelled the name "Tom Marvolo Riddle" which now below it were carved in: " Niece: Cho Chang." Cho gives a mischievous grin and opens the diary up to August 31st and begins her daily routine of pouring her inner most thoughts into a blank page.

August 31 

_Dear Diary,_

_Guilty, jealous, insecure, angry, and other horrible thoughts and feelings just keep flowing through my pounding head. All of these emotions had been bubbling inside as long as I can remember. I can't deny that I am not the sanest person you will come across. I have faults just like everyone else. But mine are worse than you can ever imagine. I maybe Cho Chang, one of the most popular girl at Hogwarts, but no one really knows me. The real me. My Past; My Present; Or My Future. They have no idea who Cho Chang really is. They have no idea of the things I have done or things I am capable of to get what I want. No one does._

_I have been locked up in a protective cocoon. I am the only person responsible. I'm the one who had the key and swallowed it. On the outside I am the kind and caring Cho Chang everyone knows and loves. On the inside I can't say there is a beautiful butterfly. To tell you the truth, who am I to lie? You can search and search but all you will find is bottled up feelings of anger, guilt, and remorse. I'm the only one responsible. It is who I truly am. It is who I want to be._

_Sincerely,_

_Cho Chang_

Twenty minutes after departing Kings Cross Station I decided to make my way to his train compartment. I had rehearsed my apology over and over again all summer. But, I couldn't help worrying Harry might reject me. I thought our date at Hogsmeade was going great. Then, Harry goes and says he is going to meet Hermione after me. He acted as if our date didn't matter, as if it was a joy ride that came to an abrupt end. He was going to go from one girl to another but now I see that it wasn't like that at all and I was overruled by envy.

Harry and Hermione have such a close relationship I couldn't help but worry. Since I'm the jealous type exploded in front of all those people at Madam Puddifoot's Coffee Shop. From then on things went from bad to worse. I probably embarrassed him horribly bursting out that way, screaming at him without remorse or shame at all. Which is why I decided it was necessary to have a talk.

We have to set things straight before they get out of hand. But, most importantly I needed to apologize for loosing my temper. I thought I had worked out my "issues" and could confront the problems that would come my way. Last time I truly lost my temper changed my life forever and I wasn't about to go through that again. I had lost enough and I'm not going to let go this easily this time.

I passed golden-framed compartment after compartment and finally arrived at the very last compartment where I had seen him walk into earlier. I stared at my feet and rehearsed my apology again. I wanted everything to be perfect. In the compartment I heard two people talking. I recognized the first voice instantly to belong to Harry and the other to my disgrace to belong to Hermione. I used the new Extendable Ears I got from the new joke shop Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes, to ease drop on their conversation.

Thank God for Fred and George making rule-breaking easier for future wizards. I carefully placed the Extendable Ear against the sliding door making sure no one saw or heard me. I kneeled to the floor and listened motionless. But, I soon regretted doing so.

"Hermione, er…I was wondering…um… could you give me some advice," Harry nervously said as he started to edge closer to her.

"Absolutely, what ever about Harry?" Hermione questioned as she looked up from her book, Hogwarts: A History, a concerned look on her face.

"Well, Hermione, see there's this girl…" Harry started edging even closer to Hermione.

"I see, continue Harry," The twinkle once in Hermione's chestnut eyes disappeared immediately after Harry's words. An immense look of disappointment appeared on her face.

_To be continued…_


	2. The Truth Unveiled

Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me! All of these characters belong to the brilliant J.K. Rowling. My story is only based on her novel. The only thing that belongs to me is the idea of this story.

An Illusion of Love  By: SoccerLily 

Chapter 2: The Truth Unveiled

'Harry could be thinking of me!' I thought to myself. My heart gave a sudden leap of excitement. I can't wait to stop being just plain Cho Chang. "Mrs. Cho Potter has a nice ring to it doesn't." I accidentally said out loud.

"Harry, did you hear that noise."

"Hear what noise?"

"Never mind, what were you saying?" Hermione said sadly just anxious to get this over with as soon as possible.

"I was saying that there is this girl that I really like, but I don't know if she feels the same way about me. She is just the perfect girl. She is gorgeous, intelligent, compassionate, kind, unique, and overall she is the greatest person I know." Harry babbled on and on continuing to compliment the mystery girl.

"Oh, I see…" But before Hermione could continue Harry interrupted her.

"Why would she ever be interested in me? Why would any girl be interested in me, for that matter? I'm just a short nobody, who wears glasses, and has a humongous scar protruding from his skin. Who would want that? Everyone just sees me as famous Harry Potter, the hero. No one even bothers to get to know me. They either assume I'm a big- head hero or a sweet flawless superman." Hermione stared into his emerald green eyes and lost herself in them like she always does. Once she snapped into realism she couldn't help but notice the sincerity in his eyes. She couldn't have imagined he felt this way. He was always so discreet about his feelings.

"Harry, girls dream about you every night. They think of you as the Prince Charming of Hogwarts. You never let being a hero go to you head. You are a sweet, smart, athletic, honest, good-looking, and talented guy and girls see that, they don't just cling to you because you are a hero they really like you for the right reasons, because you are you and no one else. That girl is probably the envy of every girl at Hogwarts. I'd do anything to have you feel that way about me." Hermione covered her mouth instantly. Her chestnut brown eyes grew twice their normal size in shock.

How could she have revealed her deepest darkest secret in mere seconds? Was she crazy? What would Harry say? A single tear streamed down her face and without thinking she blasted towards the door trying to escape from her misery. She pried the door open, but before she could make it out the door Harry grabbed her arm with such force she couldn't take one step further.

"Harry, plea—plea--please… let me go… be—be--fore I make an even bigger fool of myself!" Hermione then fell to the floor and became a puddle of tears.

"It is obvious you don't feel the same way about me! Go tell that mystery girl of yours how you feel and live happily ever after, ok! PLEASE JUST LEAVE ME ALONE! HARRY JAMES POTTER, I MEAN IT!" Hermione managed to mumble between snuffles.

Harry then tried to pick her up and carry her to her seat. But, Hermione threw a kicking fit anyone would be scared of. Harry had never seen her act this way with such energy and strength. He had never realized Hermione was so strong. After many tries Harry was finally able to pick her up but putting her down was another story. Hermione was putting up such a fight it was really hard to put her down gently. This was it. He was going to do exactly what Hermione advised.

"Hermione, you're right I'm going to take your advice word for word."

"WELL GOOD FOR YOU HARRY POTTER! NOW WOULD YOU PUT ME DOWN?" With that Harry dropped her onto the nearest seat as carefully as he could. Hermione seemed to be fine because as soon as he stepped back Hermione cuddled up to the nearest corner and began crying once again. Harry then walked over to the door…

I then started to jump up and down overwhelmed with excitement. 'Harry is going to tell me how he feels about me. I can feel it. I can't wait!' But I could not be farther from the truth because instead of Harry walking out the door he shut it and locked it. 'What?' Cho said to herself curiously as she put the Extendable Ears against the door once again.

"What are you doing Harry? Go find her and tell her how you feel," Hermione blurted out as she looked up huge tears flowing down cheeks. She was besieged with curiosity and anger at the same time. Why was Harry still here and not running off to find that mystery girl?

Harry then walked back and sat next to Hermione. He put one hand on top of Hermione's and with the other he wiped the tears that were streaming down her face.

"Look Hermione I've been dieing to ask you something for ages…"

"What now? Huh? Hermione, can you write me a speech? Can you do my Potions homework? Hermione, can you do this and that and how about this too? What do you want now, Harry Potter? Do you want me to tell you what to say to that mystery girl of yours, huh? Do you want to make my misery even worse?"

" No, I can do all those things for myself, thank you. Well I was going to ask you to be my girlfriend. But if you don't want to I'd understand."

"Harry, all those beautiful things you said were about me?" Hermione was weighed down by shock and couldn't help but burst into tears of happiness.

Harry couldn't help but notice that even when Hermione's eyes were red and swollen she was still the most stunning girl he had ever set his bottle green eyes upon. He had noticed ages ago that Hermione was not the same annoying, bucktooth, bushy haired girl he met six years ago. She had grown up. Her once bushy hair was replaced with straight radiant golden-brown hair that went past her shoulders. Her hair always smelled of sun-ripened raspberries and her silky soft skin was snowy white and her crimson lips just stood there waiting to be smothered in kisses. Her teeth, which were shrunk during their fourth year, were pearly white and her tiny button nose drove Harry crazy. Her huge brown eyes were the finishing touch on her. They were the thing Harry loved the most. They would always light up his day no matter what. She didn't need any make-up at all she had grown into someone with natural beauty.

" Harry, hello anyone there? Earth to Harry!"

"Oh, sorry. I dozed off."

"Harry, you don't have to think up a lie. I know those things you said weren't about me. Just admit it!"

"Of course they were. Who did you think I was talking about? I can't believe you hadn't picked up my hints. I've only liked you since our second year at Hogwarts!"

"To tell you the truth I thought you were talking about Cho. You liked her for so long. You probably still do. You asked her to the Yule Ball and everything." Hermione out of shock now was trying to take this all in. She couldn't believe it at all. She tried and tried to be logical but couldn't. 'He had always said he liked Cho, he probably feels sorry for me.' Hermione thought to herself to be the only reasonable explanation.

" Well Hermione I can't keep hiding this anymore. In our fourth year I was trying to make you jealous. I was trying to make you feel the same way I was feeling because of Krum. But Cho ended rejecting me to go with Diggory so my plan backfired. In our fifth year I was confused…really confused. What I thought I felt for Cho wasn't love it was sympathy. She was so broken down about Cedric I just had to. I thought I could hit two birds with one stone. I thought I could comfort Cho and make you envious at the same time. There you have it the ugly truth. You probably think I'm a jerk. But, I couldn't help it. So now that you know the truth, will ya'? … You know… be my girlfriend?"

"Harry James Potter, you know what, you are a jerk…!" The last bit of Harry's hope was destroyed with 500-pound bulldozer.

"…trying to play with my feelings like that…" How could Harry have expected to be welcomed with open arms after all those horrible things he did? He knew he would have to face reality sooner or later.

"But you know what?…" Harry looked up from his feet.

"I want you to be my jerk!" Hermione then grabbed Harry and pulled him into a tender kiss. Harry carefully placed his hands on her waist and saw as Hermione placed hers around his neck. Afterwards Harry just stood there dumbstruck.

"Is that a yes or a no?" Harry asked with a smile that went from ear to ear.

"A yes of course. I've been dying to do that since forever. I'm so glad we got all of our feelings out in the open. I felt like I was going to pop pretty soon." Hermione admitted as she engaged Harry it a massive hug.

Hermione just stood there staring at Harry. She could not believe their feelings were mutual. Hermione had too noticed that Harry was not the same. He no longer was the skinny, pale, messy haired boy that she met on the Hogwarts Express. He had grown quite a bit since then. All of the saving the world and Quidditch had paid off. Harry was built and was the kind of person that you knew would protect you from anything. He was always the kind of guy you knew you could go to when you were in trouble. His jet-black hair was still as chaotic as ever but instead of taking away from his complexion it added a significant spice. He always smelled of freshly picked raspberries no matter what. Hermione would always cling to him as closely as she could just to catch a whiff that she could remember late in the night when she longed to be with him. His emerald eyes of course were the most spectacular thing about Harry. The way you would always get lost inside his gaze. The way they made you melt at the very sight of them…

"Hermione? Are you ok? Hermione?"

"Huh, oh yeah, I'm fine."

" I hate her. I hate her… no I loathe her! She is going to pay, I SWEAR! If she thinks she can steal my man and get away with it she is dead wrong! I'm going to make her hurt more than ever. I DON'T CARE WHO HEARS THIS! I PROMISE SHE WILL PAY!" People then started to come out of their compartments to see what the racket was about. But, by that time Cho had already left and was nowhere in sight.

Harry and Hermione were so caught up in their own little world that they didn't notice any of the commotion occurring outside their door. After several minutes they finally realized they would arrive at Hogwarts really soon. So, they decided to start getting ready to leave. Five minutes before they arrived at Hogwarts they noticed Ron had been missing the whole trip there. They were suddenly overwhelmed with panic.

To be continued… 


End file.
